Ski lifts at Granite Peak. Image courtesy: WAOW TV
RIB MOUNTAIN, WI (WSAU-WAOW) — More than 60 people needed to be evacuated from a malfunctioned chair lift at Granite Peak Ski Resort Sunday.
Terri Reissmann told WAOW TV she had just decided to go on one more run down the hill while in town for a ski trip when the lift stopped, but complimented the staff for making quick work of the situation. “It was comfortable, it was fine. The ski patrol seemed to know what they were doing. They were prepared for it, and they had a lot of people on hand. I couldn’t believe how many ski patrol were there helping out,” Reissmann said.
Granite Peak general manager Greg Fisher says nobody was injured and the process took about an hour to bring everyone down from their chair by rope.
The lifts will stop sometimes for brief moments, but after a glitch forced this one to stop, Ski Patrol needed to come in and assist people in getting down.
Fisher says there were about 25 members of their patrol staff helping out, and adds this type of incident is rare.
“It’s not something you find at many ski resorts every year, but every ski resort most likely has been through one of these,” he said.
Fisher says there are ways the handling of the situation could be improved upon, but adds they maintained guest safety as a high priority.
The lift had to be closed for the rest of the day Sunday and staff ran tests on it that day; it’s expected to re-open this week.
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